MOTHERWELL manager Mark McGhee fears he may struggle to keep hold of loan star keeper Connor Ripley until the end of the season.

The 22-year-old is currently at Fir Park on a temporary deal from Middlesbrough that is due to expire in January.

However, the imposing shot stopper, who earned a clean sheet away to Kilmarnock last weekend, has intimated he is desperate to hang about at Well until the end of the campaign to finish what he started.

Former Motherwell boss Ian Baraclough was keen to make that extension happen, and his successor has also been impressed by Ripley.

But despite yet sitting down with the goalie to discuss his options, McGhee believes he may be drafted back to the Riverside in new year.

“I’ve not had a conversation with him but I’ve heard that he has said that [he wants to stay],” he said.

“My worry would be that they will want him back because firstly he has done well and secondly I think they have one or two problems down there with goalkeepers that they may need him back.

“But we will deal with that soon enough.”

McGhee added: “Connor was quite animated in the dressing room [after Killie clean sheet] and that’s probably why. But clean sheets are not just about the goalie, they are about the shape and the determination of the people in front of him, starting with the strikers.

“I think against Aberdeen he made a terrific save at 1-1 and then we went on and nearly won the game. That’s the sort of thing he has got to be doing.

“If we become a team that dominate a game and the keeper is quiet, he is one that needs to have good concentration and make a save when he’s asked to. In a sense that’s what the second half at Aberdeen was like

“I’ve been pleased with him. He’s a great size, he’s a great kicker, he is popular with the players, too. All of these things are important and I think he is making a big contribution at the moment.”

McGhee will be hoping Ripley can claim his second clean sheet tomorrow when Inverness come calling at Fir Park.

Since the Scotland assistant returned to Fir Park last month, there has been a steady improvement in results as the team starts to knit together in the way their new gaffer wishes them too.

A draw at Pittodrie and win away to Kilmarnock have underlined McGhee’s positive influence on the team since Baraclough’s exit, and it is a feel-good factor which he believes is natural given the circumstances.

He said: “When a manager leaves, it relieves a lot of tensions.

“No matter what the players thought of the manager, they may have thought he was the best guy in the world, I like to think all the clubs I managed thought I was the best guy in the world but I got the sack!

“But when a manager leaves there have been all these tensions around and people can’t talk to each other, they read the papers and they feel the tension in the stands.

“When he isn’t there anymore all that pressure is gone and the players find that energy and suddenly they are better.

“What we have managed to do is embrace that and harness it, and hit the ground running. Obviously that’s what we’ll be aiming to continue on Saturday.

“I think if there was a lack of confidence or belief before I got here, it certainly wasn’t evident after a week or so.”